Facebook post on the Jews restoring sovereignty in the ancient land of Israel

There is not a single day in the year, or a single hour in the day or even a single moment in time that I am not grateful that the Jews have restored sovereignty in their ancient land of Israel.

Because there is not a single day in the year, or a single hour in the day, or even a single moment in time where the Jewish people are not under attack.

In the past week alone 148 nations supported a resolution at the UN on Jerusalem that referred to the Temple Mount only by its colonial Arab name, rather than the correct Hebrew name. That resolution said that under Israeli administration, there is a lack of religious freedom. Of course, when Jordan illegally occupied Jerusalem, Jews were barred from even entering the Old City. The existing Jewish communities, who had been there for thousands of years, were expelled. Synagogues were destroyed and tombstones were used for building materials. Exactly how the Nazis did it.

But no mention of that inconvenient truth or of the fact that there is more freedom of religion in any back alleyway in any Israeli city than there is in the entire Arab world.

Then there’s Germany whose leader, Angela Merkel, personally intervened and contacted Romania’s president along with other European leaders, urging them not to move their embassies to Jerusalem. I’m sure that she, along with many other leaders, are wishing Jews all around the world a happy Hanukkah – a holiday of freedom where Jews took back their sovereignty against foreign invaders and liberated their temple in Jerusalem. They want us to celebrate it… just not in… you know…the place it ACTUALLY happened….

In Europe the Dutch Labour Party refused to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance definition of anti-antisemitism, because they didn’t want to upset its Muslim voters. We simply can’t have that!

Meanwhile the British Labour Party and their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, refers to terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends.” These are groups who are sworn to Israel’s destruction. And it seems hardly a day goes by without another Labour Party member being exposed for their blatant antisemitism.

Across the ocean in the United States, antisemites like Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, Louis Farrakhan and others continue to be celebrated as heroes by far too many. And now, there are a new bunch of elected officials in the US Congress who will lead a new generation of antisemites. Ones like Rashida Tlaib, who the Jewish group J-Steet stupidly and naively first supported in a bid to show how wonderful and inclusive and diverse they are. Well, they’ve now included an antisemite in their list – so is that enough diversity!?

Or how about Ilhan Omar, whose tweet calling Israel evil, will be warmly received by fellow Jew haters, along with her enthusiastic support for the BDS movement.

Meanwhile the European Union continues to call for a two state solution – trying to force Israel into creating another terrorist entity on their doorstep. Perhaps they should focus more on averting the one Islamic state solution heading their way! In the meantime they’ll talk about the importance of Israel’s security while at the same time scramble to make deals with Iran whose constant call for Israel’s destruction doesn’t seem to faze them much.

And who can forget AirBNB who decided to target Jews only in their own land – but ignore every other conflict on earth.

So even as I look around at the world – a world that seems ready to tear itself apart – and even as I look at the normalisation of Jew hatred on so many levels of society, I do not wallow in despair or in self-pity.

Darkness has always been part of Jewish history, and yet today even as the darkness grows, so too does the light.

Because the difference between now and the last two thousand years of persecution is the State of Israel. The Jewish State. The place that will always be the home for Jews from all over – both physically and spiritually.

We should fight antisemitism wherever it is – because it’s a human right to be able to live your life in your own way and in your own tradition. But by having Israel, it gives us the strength and confidence to carry on that fight – for the shield of David extends to all of us and to every corner of the world.

So on this day in history, in this moment of time, I am more grateful than ever to God, to the people of Israel, to the IDF and to all who work in supporting and ensuring that the Jews have finally got their home back, allowing us to defend ourselves, our history and our culture. So many people think they can still tell us how to live, what to do, what to say, how to behave – just as they have in the past and just as they’ll try in the future, but no one will be able to determine our destiny anymore.